Higher Learning: Reading and Writing About College

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This anthology of imaginative literatureby student as well as professional writerscontains stories, poems, drama, essays, letters, and memoirs about all aspects of college life in order to motivate readers, especially first-year students, to read, discuss, write, and think critically about the problems and challenges of succeeding in college.Historical and cultural diversity offers readers a broader context in which to appreciate and understand the college experience. This 2 nd edition includes 13 new pieces. These selections provide good and bad examples, individual experiences, parables of the admirable, cautionary tales, and funny stories.An excellent reader for students, teachers, and lifelong learners.

Preface

ix

About the Authors

xii

Credits and Permissions

xiii

CHAPTER ONE Where We're Coming From

1

(54)

LEAVING OTHER LIVES

From Up from Slavery

Booker T. Washington

2

(5)

MEMOIR (1901) Prejudices in 1872 force the author to sleep outside during his journey to college, but when he finally reaches what he calls his "promised land," he must pass an unconventional test before he is admitted.

Incurring My Mother's Displeasure

Zitkala-Sa

7

(3)

MEMOIR (1900) Recounts the author's difficulty balancing her Native American childhood with learning the "white man's ways" at college and living with the pain of disobeying her mother by continuing her education.

From One Writer's Beginnings

Eudora Welty

10

(5)

MEMOIR (1983) Chronicles the author's earliest memories in a household that valued books.

Saved

Malcolm X

15

(4)

MEMOIR (1965) Malcolm X uses his time in jail to hone his reading and writing skills.

Miss Rinehart's Paddle

Jeri McCormick

19

(2)

POEM (1991) Depicts the loss of power for students who always follow the rules and those who can't help themselves.

50% Chance of Lightning

Cristina Salat

21

(9)

FICTION (1994) Best friends and high school seniors decide their futures much differently: Robin has the guts to "come out" in a column in her school news-paper, but she is unsure that she will find her life's plan in a college catalogue.

Somewhere in Minnesota

Peter Klein

30

(2)

POEM/STUDENT WRITTEN (1979) The "brilliant future" that awaits many high school graduates is especially bright as portrayed in their senior photos.

LD

Jeff Richards

32

(5)

ESSAY (2000) First-person account of what it's like to live and thrive with a learning disability.

School's Out: One Young Man Puzzles Over His Future Without College

Laura Sessions Stepp

37

(19)

ARTICLE (2002) A high school graduate chooses the factory over the university.

8th Grade Final Exam

44

(12)

EXAM (1895) An original test on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, Kansas.

FURTHER SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING

48

(2)

SELECTED FILMS

50

(5)

CHAPTER TWO School Daze

55

(56)

LIFE IN THE FIRST YEAR

A Day in the Life of...

Greg Adams

56

(2)

POEM/STUDENT WRITTEN (1994) Offers a sequence of concrete nouns and brand-name products to show one college student's life in which the only action is "rewind," a clue to get up and do it all again.

My First Week at Mizzou

Andrew Hicks

58

(5)

JOURNAL/STUDENT WRITTEN (1995) A blog of one student's first week at a mega-university.

From Diary of a Freshman

Charles Macomb Flandreau

63

(3)

FICTION (1901) Depicts the dialogue between an academic advisor and a failing student, who attempts to convey the impression of success in his courses.

Take This Fish and Look at It

Samuel H. Scudder

66

(4)

ESSAY (1874) A retrospective look at the interaction between Scudder as a young botany student and his professor, who teaches an important exercise in observation.

Hunters and Gatherers

Jennifer Hale

70

(3)

JOURNAL/STUDENT WRITTEN (1996) An excerpt from a course journal shows the connection between one student's social life and what she's learning in her history classes.

Theme for English B

Langston Hughes

73

(2)

POEM (1924) Shows the difficulty of one student who feels alienated from his teacher because of the color of his skin and the freedoms it allows him.

From Lummox: Evolution of a Man

Mike Magnuson

75

(6)

MEMOIR (2001) A weekend in jail helps this suspended student find his path as an intellectual.

The English Lesson

Nicholasa Mohr

81

(12)

FICTION (1977) William and Lali, two Puerto Ricans, enroll in Mrs. Hamma's Basic English night class against the initial reluctance of Lali's husband.

Outside In: The Life of a Commuter Student

Patti See

93

(6)

ESSAY (1998) Describes a less-than-traditional college experience in which the only friends the narrator makes during her first year are professors and custodians.

From I Walk in Beauty

Davina Ruth Begaye Two Bears

99

(5)

ESSAY/STUDENT WRITTEN (1997) Tells the story of how one student simultaneously received one of the worst and best grades a student can.

From The Freshman Year Thrill Ride

Missy Loney and Julie Feist

104

(8)

LIST/STUDENT WRITTEN (1997) Offers personal advice on how to maneuver through the freshman year thrill ride.

FURTHER SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING

107

(2)

SELECTED FILMS

109

(2)

CHAPTER THREE Student Relations

111

(70)

FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND LOVERS

Raspberries

Jennifer Fandel

112

(2)

POEM/STUDENT WRITTEN (1993) Discusses the heaviness of new love, often too much for the vine and the heart.

Ten Commandments for a College Freshman

Joseph McCabe

114

(4)

LETTER (1963) Offers advice to first-year students in a personal letter from father to son.

First Love

R.A. Sasaki

118

(11)

FICTION (1991) Looks at what happens to young lovers when one goes away to college and one stays at home.

Carmen

Jennifer Sheridan

129

(5)

FICTION/STUDENT WRITTEN (1996) Best friends make their way through college by taking turns mothering each other among people who do not seem to care.

"Who Shall I Be?" The Allure of a Fresh Start

Jennifer Crichton

134

(5)

ESSAY (1984) Students sometimes expect to find a reinvention of self at college.

What It's Really Like

Frank Smoot

139

(2)

POEM/STUDENT WRITTEN (1995) A never-taken chance at love.

No More Kissing - AIDS Everywhere

Michael Blumenthal

141

(2)

POEM (1989) The link between love and death is portrayed through the metaphor of a kiss.

The Blue-Light System

Katie Roiphe

143

(7)

ESSAY/STUDENT WRITTEN (1993) A discussion of freedoms that allow a woman to say yes and/or no and the complications those choices create for both genders.

Dear Concerned Mother

Jill Wolfson

150

(6)

ARTICLE (2001) Writing students in juvenile hall offer great parenting advice to their teacher, whose son is giving her some trouble.